u/Feeling_Contact7076

I wanted to make this post since so many other people’s experiences helped me through this journey. It’s important to note that I received testing accommodations. I had 1 hour extended testing time and 30 minutes of stop-the-clock breaks.

My practice scores: I definitely was NOT someone who was consistently getting amazing practice scores.

·      TherapyEd Exam B: 47%

·      AOTA Full Practice Exam: 65%

·      TherapyEd Exam C: 52%

·      NBCOT Practice Test: 438 (1 week before exam)

·      NBCOT Full Practice Exam: 463 (4 days before exam)

·      Actual NBCOT: 460 PASS

The biggest things I learned:

1. ONE PRACTICE SCORE DOES NOT DETERMINE WHETHER YOU'RE GOING TO PASS

I spent a lot of time translating practice percentages into whether I would pass the NBCOT. Practice scores were MUCH more useful when I stopped treating them like predictions and started treating them like information. I started asking, "What is this score telling me I need to work on?" and revised my study focus accordingly. During every practice exam, I wrote down a list of all the content/key terms presented in the questions that I needed more information on or did not know (many of which were conditions or different approaches), then reviewed the list the next day.

2. PRACTICE QUESTIONS HELPED ME MORE THAN ENDLESS CONTENT REVIEW

At first, I felt like I needed to relearn everything from OT school before I could be ready, but that wasn’t possible given the deadline for my exam. Eventually, I started letting my practice questions determine what I reviewed. A big thing I focused on was reading rationales and using ChatGPT for more explanation when the given rationale didn’t click in my brain. I am also notorious for second-guessing answers and changing from right to wrong at the last second, so I made sure I understood the rationales and didn’t change any answers from what I originally thought unless I had an evidence-based reason to.

3. LEARN HOW NBCOT QUESTIONS WANT YOU TO THINK

Toward the end of my studies, I realized I knew more content than I thought. My bigger problem was figuring out what the question actually wanted. I started mentally breaking questions down into Diagnosis → deficit → occupational problem → goal → stage of intervention → precautions → what is the question actually asking me to do?

I paid attention to words like FIRST, NEXT, BEST, MOST appropriate, INITIAL, PRIORITY, SAFEST. Sometimes, multiple answers could technically help the client. The question is asking which answer is best at that specific point in the OT process. That distinction helped me tremendously.

4. USE YOUR WEAK AREAS TO GUIDE YOUR STUDYING

My weaknesses changed throughout my studies. At one point, Domain 3 was clearly my problem area, so I focused heavily on it. Later, my NBCOT practice results showed that Domain 1 had become weaker, so I shifted again. I stopped giving every topic equal study time. I'm also a very visual learner, so comparison charts and condensed visuals helped me WAY more than rereading giant sections of a textbook.

6. EACH RESOURCE SERVED A DIFFERENT PURPOSE FOR ME

TherapyEd: I used this for difficult questions, content gaps, and challenging my clinical reasoning. The scores sometimes absolutely destroyed my confidence, lol, so eventually I stopped using the percentage as a readiness indicator.

AOTA: I really liked this for practice questions and identifying domain-specific weaknesses. This resource is really good for providing more condition-based reviews. The questions felt more straightforward to me than TherapyEd.

NBCOT StudyPack: I saved this until closer to my exam, which I personally think was helpful. It gave me experience with NBCOT-style questions and showed me how my performance was changing as test day approached. The jump from 438 → 463 also showed me how much a single practice score can fluctuate. If I could go back and do anything different, I would've started using this resource way earlier than I did.

7. THE EXAM

Two days before, I took a 50-question mixed-domain practice mini-test. I felt like I was doing terribly, but I actually did pretty well, scoring around 80%. That helped me realize I was going to register wrong answers more often than right ones, and I needed to stop focusing on that.

The day before the exam, I did a lot of mindfulness/stress-reduction practice and positive affirmations. I also packed all my snacks and extra water, planned my outfit for the next day, and then went to bed early.

On the day of the exam, I felt very calm. I made sure I felt confident going in and that I would do the best I could. The biggest thing to remember is that you prepared for this; you can't cram any more learning. The only thing you can do is keep your stress down so your brain works better. After the exam, I felt good, but definitely started to spiral as the week went on. I checked a couple of answers I remembered and found I got them right, except for one. I also only changed 1 answer during the exam because I genuinely had no idea, but some clinical reasoning ultimately led me to the right answer after checking.

My biggest takeaways:

·      Don't use someone else's practice scores as your passing prediction.

·      A bad practice test is data, not a verdict.

·      Doing questions isn't enough—study your reasoning.

·      Know why the wrong answers are wrong, not just why the correct answer is correct.

·      If you're constantly changing correct answers, work on your decision-making process rather than assuming you need more content knowledge.

·      Let your weaknesses determine what you study next.

·      You do not need to know every single OT fact to pass this exam.

·      Feeling uncertain after the NBCOT does NOT mean you failed.

I spent so much time worrying because my scores didn't look like some of the scores I saw people posting online. So if you're currently staring at a practice score that has you convinced you're doomed, take a minute before you spiral. Figure out why you missed what you missed, adjust your studying, and keep going.

Good luck to everyone studying. ❤️ You know more than you think.

I’m a Level II OT fieldwork student and I’m looking for some perspective because I’m not sure if what I’m experiencing is just part of fieldwork or if it’s something I should bring up.

My first Level II rotation was outpatient, and honestly it was very much a “sink or swim” environment. My CI gave me a lot of independence pretty quickly, which I know isn’t everyone’s preferred learning style, but it worked really well for me. I learned a ton, became independent, and had a very successful rotation.

Now I’m in my second and final rotation in acute care/inpatient. I’m currently 7 weeks into a 12-week rotation. It’s split between two hospitals. At the higher-level trauma hospital, I’m basically independent. I have my own schedule, evaluate and treat patients on my own, and my CI trusts me to manage my caseload. I feel confident there.

The issue is at the lower-level trauma hospital with my other CI. Even though I’m 7 weeks into Level II, he still supervises almost everything I do and is extremely nitpicky. The feedback I get is almost exclusively about what I did wrong, and it’s often over really minor things. For example, today I got corrected because I push bath wipes in a pile under the bed because they dropped and left them there until the end of the session instead of throwing them away immediately. Things like that happen constantly.
Today was especially rough. It felt like every clinical decision I made was wrong. I’d suggest a discharge recommendation or an assistance level, and he’d immediately tell me I was incorrect without much discussion. Instead of feeling like I was learning, I felt like I was just constantly failing.

To add some context, I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and today was only my third day taking stimulant medication. I told him earlier in the day that I was having a really bad “brain day.” My medication had worn off by the end of the afternoon, and I could barely organize my thoughts. He kept asking rapid-fire questions, and when I couldn’t answer them well, he told me I didn’t know the material and that I clearly hadn’t been paying attention.

At the end of the day, I had to write up a tone assessment. Instead of walking me through it or helping me reason through it, he just continued asking me questions. I became so overwhelmed that I started crying right in front of him. He didn’t acknowledge it or ask if I was okay. When I was leaving, I told him, “I’m sorry, I know I was having a bad brain day today. I know that’s not an excuse.” His only response was, “Yeah, that’s not an excuse.”
I’m not looking for special treatment because of ADHD. I know I’m still expected to meet competency standards, and I completely agree with that. But I also don’t know if this style of teaching is normal or if this crosses into being unsupportive.

Has anyone else had a CI like this? Is this just something I need to push through for the last five weeks, or would it be reasonable to talk to my fieldwork coordinator or the rehab manager? I don’t want to be seen as someone who can’t take feedback—I actually appreciate constructive criticism—but I’m starting to feel like I’m losing confidence and dreading the days I’m with this CI.

So I ran out of 10mg capsules and I only have 30mg left. My thought was getting 30 mL of water emptying the powder into the water and only drinking 10 mL after mixing then saving the rest for the next two days. I’m just not sure how that will affect my dose since I’ve been typically taking it orally.